Business continuity planning is a key element of corporate governance and should be deeply ingrained into a company's culture to deliver business resilience and long term sustainability. Many still think of a business continuity plan as merely a contingency plan to be dusted off should a disaster occur, but its value goes deeper.
Risk mitigation.
Every business is exposed to a certain level of risk, from cyber attacks to poor financial performance. By embedding business continuity awareness into the company's culture, employees become more attuned to these risks and play a proactive part in addressing them, mitigating potential threats before they escalate.
Business resilience.
When employees understand the importance of maintaining operations, even during a period of disruption, a business becomes resilient, able to deliver against its obligations and mitigate against loss of revenue. Resilient businesses are able to take advantage of competitor failings during times of crisis and enact rapid growth.
Strong reputation.
Companies that can navigate disruptions with grace and decorum deserve a strong reputation. Clients, investors and consumers place their trust in companies that have a reputation for resilience and reliability.
Legal and regulatory compliance.
Many industries require that businesses operating within them perform business continuity planning to specified standards, and penalise those businesses that fail to comply. Incorporating business continuity planning into your business' culture reduces the risk of non-compliance and the associated cost and reputational impact.
Improved employee engagement.
When employees understand the pivotal role that they play in maintaining business operations, they become more engaged in delivering their objectives and collaborating across departments to achieve organisational goals. Employees are more inclined to contribute to solutions and seize opportunities, even in the face of adversity.
Reduced operating costs.
Proactive risk assessment and mitigation planning enable businesses to identify potential threats and inefficiencies, eliminate areas of non-compliance, optimise their resources and minimise wasted time and effort, thus reducing the cost of operating on a daily basis and increasing profitability and productivity.
Sustainability.
When business continuity planning is embedded into a company's culture, the firm is set up to stand the test of time, becoming sustainable and able to enact ambitious growth plans.
To reap the benefits of embedding a culture of business continuity planning, you will need to help your workforce to develop a mindset of preparedness and resilience. Needhams can help you to instil this mindset into your organisation and its people, through a targeted package of benchmarking, training, certification and risk analysis.
We can support you at every step of your journey, helping you to embed a resilient and sustainable culture of risk preparedness in ensuring your business' long-term survival, growth and success.